Nuclear maneuvers, threats to France and Great Britain, warning to NATO: Russia raises the tone in the conflict with the West

Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova stressed that the eventual arrival of French troops in Ukraine would make them legitimate targets for Moscow, while Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that a direct NATO intervention in the war it would be very dangerous, write Reuters and AFP. The two messages on Wednesday come amid Russia’s military maneuvers with nuclear weapons and highlight an escalation in the aggressive tone of the confrontation between Russia and the West.

Russia warned on Wednesday that if President Emmanuel Macron sends troops to Ukraine, then they will be considered legitimate targets by the Russian military.

Macron caused controversy in February and more recently last week when he said he could not rule out the deployment of troops to Ukraine in the future. The French leader warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine, then Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero.

“It is characteristic that Macron himself explains this rhetoric by the desire to create a kind of ‘strategic uncertainty’ for Russia,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“We have to disappoint him – to us the situation seems more than certain,” she said.

“If the French appear in the conflict zone, they will inevitably become targets for the Russian armed forces. It seems to me that Paris already has proof of this,” the official said

Zakharova said Russia is already seeing a growing number of French citizens among those killed in Ukraine.

Warning to NATO

The message of the head of Russian diplomacy was doubled by the statement of the spokesman of the Kremlin, which also came on Wednesday, on the subject of a possible NATO intervention in Ukraine.

Russia said on Wednesday that sending NATO troops to Ukraine could be extremely dangerous, and Moscow is closely following a Ukrainian petition calling for such an intervention.

Dmitry Peskov’s statement refers to a petition posted on the Ukrainian president’s website that says Ukraine should ask the United States, Britain and other countries to send troops to help repel the Russian invasion.

“The regime in Kiev is quite unpredictable,” the Kremlin spokesman said when asked about the subject at his daily briefing.

“We have repeatedly said that the direct intervention on the front, in this conflict, by the militaries of NATO countries, potentially carries enormous danger, so we consider it an extremely provocative proposal, nothing less, and, of course, we follow this with great attention,” he said.

It was unclear whether the petition would gather the necessary number of votes – 25,000 – to require President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to respond – by approving or rejecting it. As of Wednesday morning, the petition had 1,594 votes.

NATO has supported Ukraine in this war, providing it with increasingly powerful weapons, including tanks and long-range missiles, but has not intervened directly with troops – something that both US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that it could lead to a third world war.

Macron’s “clear strategic objective”.

Macron said last week that Russia must be prevented from winning the war in Ukraine, pointing out that in the event of success there were no guarantees that neighboring countries, including Romania and the Republic of Moldova, would not be at risk in a scenario where Moscow achieved its strategic objectives.

The Elysee leader reiterated the possibility of sending NATO troops to the ground in the invaded country, appreciating in an interview published by The Economist that we will have to “ask ourselves the question” if Moscow “will manage to break through the front line” and if the authorities from Kiev ask for it.

“To rule this out a priori means not learning the lessons of the last two years,” as NATO countries initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine, and eventually changed their minds, he added.

“I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, we will no longer have security in Europe. Who can say that Russia will stop there? What security (will there be) for other neighboring countries, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and many others?”, asked the French president.

“And basically, what credibility (will) the Europeans who spent billions, who declared that the survival of the continent is at stake there and who did not offer the means to stop Russia? So yes, we must not rule anything out,” Macron insisted.

Russia’s tough reaction

On Monday, Russia summoned the French and British ambassadors to its Foreign Ministry, citing recent statements by Paris and London on Ukraine.

A Foreign Office statement on the summons of British envoy Nigel Casey said Russia’s protest was related to Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s remarks about “Ukraine’s right to strike Russian territory using British weapons”.

According to the statement, Casey said Cameron’s remarks contradicted assurances previously given by the British side when it transferred long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine and that the missiles would not actually be used on Russian soil.

The ambassador was informed that Moscow views Cameron’s remarks as “evidence of a serious escalation and confirmation of London’s increasing involvement in military operations on the part of Kiev”.

Casey was warned that Russia could strike any British military installations and equipment “in Ukraine and beyond” if Ukraine struck its territory with British weapons, the statement said, adding that the ambassador was urged to “think about the consequences inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps on the part of London” and to immediately refute Cameron’s “provocative” statements.

As for the summoning of the French ambassador Pierre Levy, it was made “in connection with the increasingly bellicose statements of the French leadership and the information received about the growing involvement of France in the conflict around Ukraine”, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated .

Moscow conveyed its assessment of the policy undertaken by Paris, which it described as “destructive and provocative” with the potential to lead “to a further escalation of the conflict” in Ukraine.

Maneuvers with nuclear weapons

Also on Monday, Russia announced the organization of exercises simulating the use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield

The exercises are a response to “provocative statements and threats by some Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Peskov also explained, also on Monday, that Macron’s recent statement and other remarks by British and American officials provoked the nuclear drills.

“This is a new round of escalation,” Peskov said, referring to what the Kremlin considered provocative statements.

“It is unprecedented and requires special attention and special measures,” he added.

It was the first time Russia had publicly announced exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, although its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold such exercises.

Tactical nuclear weapons include aerial bombs, short-range missile warheads, and artillery munitions and are intended for use on a battlefield.

They are less powerful than strategic weapons – massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and can destroy entire cities.

The Kremlin’s announcement of military maneuvers with tactical nuclear weapons is part of the “reflexive control” campaign, a key element of Russia’s hybrid warfare toolkit aimed at changing Western decision-making, experts at the Institute for the Study of War – an American think-tank.